Honley / Haneleia / Houndsley

There is an entry for Honley [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [http://opendomesday.org/place/SE1312/honley/] [accessed 12 November 2018] but it mentions neither cleric nor church in it. Mary A. Jagger's The History of Honley and its Hamlets from the Earliest Time to the Present (1914) [https://huddersfield.exposed/wiki/The_History_of_Honley_(1914)_-_Chapter_VIII] [accessed 12 November 2018] reports the destruction, removal and discarding of materials and furnishings from the earlier chapels, including "An old font, hexagon in shape, has been replaced in the Church yard. It is of very plain design and not ancient, bearing initials and dates “J.H., 1714,” “J. B.” “R. B.” “J.M.” The latter are the initials of the Incumbent and three Churchwardens, or Constables, as their proper titles would be at that date." Huddersfield Exposed [https://huddersfield.exposed/wiki/Honley_Parish_Church:_Centenary_1843-1943_(1940)] [accessed 12 November 2018], however, cites "Honley Parish Church: Centenary 1843-1943", 18 page booklet published in 1940 to commemorate the upcoming centenary of the present St. Mary's Church, Honley, on the fonts of this church: "The Fonts. The present font is not only the fourth to have been used here, it is, strange to say, the second as well. The oldest existing font, which may be of thirteenth century origin, stands in the churchyard near the south entrance, while the font which is now in use belonged to the previous chapel, or "Old Peg". At the time of the dedication of the present church, however, it was missing, and Mr Thomas Brooke of Northgate House procured a new one which is still to be seen in the garden of the latter house. Twenty years after the dedication, it occurred to the parishioners to remove the debris of the old chapel from the churchyard, and the missing font was discovered and placed in its present position. Regarding the oldest font, in the churchyard, no notice need be taken of the initials and date carved upon it; these seem to have no particular significance, and this font may be regarded as one of the earliest relics of Honley places of worship, although not necessarily dating from the original chantry or shrine. The font cover is the gift of Mr Edward Holdroyd, and is of a carved Gothic type, made from the wood of an oak tree which grew at the top of Timinits Steps." If the 1940 account is correct, there was a medieval [13th-century?] font that was re-carved in 1714 with the new date and the initials of the churchwardens of the time; this inscribing of a font with the date of its restoration back to the church would not be unique, as there are such examples particularly in the 17th-century Restoration in England [NB: the 1940 may of course be totally wrong about dating a font to such an early date when there appears to be no evidence of a church here before ca. 1500].